St. Margaret's Church, Lee, is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Lee, London Lee, also known as Lee Green, is an area of South East London, England, straddling the border of the London Borough of Lewisham and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located northwest of Eltham and southeast of Lewisham. It is within the h ...

. It was built between 1839 and 1841 in a simple early Victorian style (to a design by Norwich architect John Brown), replacing an earlier church which had been built on the foundations of the older mediaeval church nearby dating to around 1120. It is Anglican and is located on the south side of Lee Terrace/Belmont Hill, in

Lee Green Lee, also known as Lee Green, is an area of South East London, England, straddling the border of the London Borough of Lewisham and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located northwest of Eltham and southeast of Lewisham. It is within the ...

, south-east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Extensive and lavish interior decoration was carried out between the years of 1875 and 1900. By 1980 it had fallen into dilapidation and an extensive 20-year restoration programme was carried out. On completion of the restoration, the church is one of the best preserved examples of a decorated gothic revivalist interior in London. Old Tower Of Former Church Of St Margaret

Old Tower Of Former Church Of St Margaret

Between 1813 and 1830 there had been an attempt to rebuild the medieval church, involving the architect Joseph Gwilt. This failed when it became clear that the foundations of the old church were incapable of supporting a new building. The ruins of the original building are in the medieval churchyard on the north side of Lee Terrace. The tomb of

Edmond Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, H ...

(1656–1742), from 1720 England's second

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post ...

and the discoverer of the

periodicity Periodicity or periodic may refer to: Mathematics * Bott periodicity theorem, addresses Bott periodicity: a modulo-8 recurrence relation in the homotopy groups of classical groups * Periodic function, a function whose output contains values tha ...

Halley's Comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...

is in the churchyard, one of three Astronomers Royal buried at St. Margaret's (

Nathaniel Bliss Nathaniel Bliss (28 November 1700 – 2 September 1764) was an English astronomer of the 18th century, serving as Britain's fourth Astronomer Royal between 1762 and 1764. Life Nathaniel Bliss was born in the Cotswolds village of Bisley i ...

and

John Pond John Pond FRS (1767 – 7 September 1836) was a renowned English astronomer who became the sixth Astronomer Royal, serving from 1811 to 1835. Biography Pond was born in London and, although the year of his birth is known, the records indica ...

are the others). Also notable is the tomb of

Sir Samuel Fludyer, 1st Baronet Sir Samuel Fludyer, 1st Baronet (c. 1704 – 18 January 1768), of Lee Place in Kent, was an English merchant and banker who served as a Member of Parliament and Lord Mayor of London. Biography Fludyer was the eldest son of Samuel Fludyer, a ...

and his family.

James Annesley James Annesley (1715 – 5 January 1760) was an Irishman with a claim to the title Earl of Anglesey, one of the wealthiest estates in Ireland. The dispute between Annesley and his uncle Richard Annesley was infamous in its time, but his story i ...

, a celebrated claimant to the Earldom of Anglesey, was buried in the churchyard in an unmarked grave. Graves in the churchyard around the current church include one for wealthy builder William Webster, his wife, and chemical engineer son,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

who lived at nearby Wyberton House on Lee Terrace.

References

External links

The Church's Parish WebsiteCurrent ChurchParish HistoryCraftsmen and WomenOld Church YardGallery of interior features
19th-century Church of England church buildings Lee Churches completed in 1841 Lee Victorian architecture in England Lee, London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Lewisham Grade II* listed churches in London {{UK-anglican-church-stub